It’s mostly found in kitchen furniture because in bygone times housewives used its hardy wipe clean properties to protect the wood underneath from scratches or damage caused by food spills. Occasionally you’ll find it lining somewhere else more unusual like a knicker drawer or inside a wardrobe.

Over time it was abandoned as debate developed about hygiene issues when using alongside food storage (crumbs were found to sneak underneath, exactly the thing it is supposed to prevent) and in recent years the popularity of plastic veneers has made shelf paper almost obsolete.

But wait! Vintage shelf paper is not just for kitchen cupboards… it is the perfect way to revive old furniture or redecorate without splashing out or resorting to DIY so here’s a list of uses for the pretty printed paper you just can’t help loving.

You could use it to…

1. Dress your shelves

Yes, this is obvious given that it’s called ‘shelf’ paper but try adding it the back of your shelving instead of the shelf itself. It will totally reinvent the look of your bookshelf or unit and your choice of print and colours can change the piece to compliment any room. There’s a nice example on the Fox Hollow Cottage blog.

2. Line your drawers

If you’re a bit of a messy Nessy like me you might find that lining your drawers with pretty shelf paper helps keep things more organised and stops you from overfilling the drawers. Having the shelf paper in the bottom makes me want to keep things in neat piles with gaps in between so I can see the pretty paper every time I root around inside.

3. Revamp cheap furniture

Structurally it might be sound but you can’t help thinking it’s ugly. We’ve all bought furniture in a rush or have emergency furniture remaining from our student days. You can revamp your mundane modern furniture by covering it partially or fully with some vintage shelf paper. I’m planning something like this for my office and will post about it when the mission is complete.

4. Make a book jacket

I remember slicing up and sticking together some of my mum’s old wallpaper to make book jackets for my exercise books in school to hide the plain boring and dog-eared cover underneath. I also remember the pattern was pretty awful. Using waxy finished shelf paper to make a note book cover would be even better; because it’s wipe clean spilled juice would be no problem and you could happily carry the books in a light shower without fear of soggy pages.

5. Make your own place mats

It’s as easy as pie. Literally all you do is draw around an object that is the size and shape you want your place mats (or coasters) to be and cut it out. It’s a great way to make a stash of different wipe clean table dressing to match any occasion.

6. Keep crafting tidy

Using the same method as above you can create an ideal mat for your crafting to catch all the mess and glue. Best of all you can wipe it clean and roll it up when you’re done.

7.Upcycle some storage

Having a house crammed with goodies for my shop plus dressmaking and crafting gubbins I’m always on the lookout for more storage. One easy idea for cheap storage is to upcycle some packaging such as biscuit tins, Pringles tubes, durable boxes and sweetie tins; you can use shelf liner to cover all or these things. Either choose an adhesive shelf paper or apply with a thin layer of PVA glue before wrapping around the item.

8. Make your own photo corners

Cut tiny triangles of adhesive shelf paper and use these to secure photos and mementos into your notebook instead of tape.

9. Cover a suitcase

If you have a hard shell suitcase laying unused in your attic you could give it a new lease of life by covering it in a beautiful patterned shelf paper. Add a finishing touch by using ribbon in a complimentary colour to tie an address tag to the handler with a bow.

10. Make bunting

Select a pretty shelf paper of your choosing. Cut isosceles triangles from the paper and stick the top edge to a piece of ribbon leaving an equal distance between each and viola, pretty bunting!

Do share! If you have tried out one of the above or had another use of your own do tell us about it, leave a comment.

More about brogues

Originally outdoor country shoes Brogues were traditionally a sturdy leather shoe (or boot) with a low heel and a perforated pattern. Over time the use of brogues has broadened and instead of a county shoe it is considered a dress shoe for formal or casual wear. Brogues most commonly fasten with Derby or Oxford style lace-ups.

Types of brogues

Full Brogues are recognisable primarily for their punched pattern but also usually sport a ‘wingtip’ toe cap, a ‘w’ shape toe section so named because it resembles a bird with spread wings. Sometimes the toe cap is cut in a contrasting colour creating a two-tone shoe.
Half brogues have no shaped toe cab but instead a straight edge toe cap with the addition of a decorative perforation in the middle of the toe cap. A quarter brogue has the straight edge toe perforation but no decorative perforations in the centre of the toe cap. The ghillie brogue is a tongueless full brogue with laces which tie around the leg and is most commonly worn as part of traditional Scottish dress.

For the last few years brogues have evolved and had big influence on the high street producing many cross-over styles of shoe including broguing but with a high heel and available in a variery colours and materials.

I would have done this but I new that The Shoreditch Vintage Fair was happening and was the closest of the many vintage events to be happening over the weekend that was remotely close to my house, and by that I mean less that a one and half hour train journey across London. It was worthwhile though because although we were there at a fairly late 3.30 there was still a bustling hive of activity not to mention a que to get in the door. Within minutes of navigating to the main room where all the stalls of clothing, accessories and jewellery were I had grabbed the first dress I picked up and was making my way back down to the dressing room. It was a knee length patterned green 1970s dress with a collared v-neck. This ever so slightly Missoni-esque affair with its floppy collar and bell sleeves is the polar opposite to the vintage which normally draws my eye. But the the colour sold it to me; a Phthalo green marl intersected with Shamrock green and white zig zag stripes and tiny cubes in alternate colours. The fit is near-perfect and and I have been meaning to find another long-sleeves dress for some time. Thanks to the two lovely ladies in the dressing room who swayed my decision it became the outfit for last nights birthday shindig. Bob also bought a lovely pink number from the 1970s.

Rushing from Shoreditch via the Brick Lane bagel shop and the supermarket and home to quickly shed my drenched tights, knee-high socks and non-waterproof shoes combo (what an error of judgement!) we finally made it to our friends house. Our friend who happens to be the Sicilian kitchen goddess behind Kitchen Secrets was hosting a little girls night in where we had steamed dim sum and an alarmingly spicy homemade coconut curry and chatted the night away.

To follow the pattern of overindulgence we arose bright and non-so early yesterday to prepare nibbles for my pre-birthday jollies. Looking every inch the 1970s housewives in our new dresses we prepared a gargantuan cheeseboard and miniature Cornish clotted cream and jam scones (Did you know the Cornish put their cream on first then the jam?). Bob also made an heavenly Betty Crocker chocolate fudge sponge cake which I will be eating for lunch for the rest of the week. We finished the night with some board games and a several rounds of the Rizzla/Post It/who am I? game which is one of my personal favourites.
Thank you to everyone who came and made it so fun.

I had a poorly day off today but will be back at my desk tomorrow sifting through yet more vintage to add to the shop. Photos of the dresses described above will follow soon, for now here’s some snaps of our delicous party nibbles. (if I say so myself).

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While we were shopping with DJ Heathen on Saturday we were introduced to a quaint glass fronted shop in Hockley which when I used to live in Nottingham was quite different and went by the name of Jade. It seems it has changed hands and the now aptly titled Kitsch shoe shop is a destination to head for, it made me all hot under the collar with it’s abundance of vintage furniture stuffed gently with belts and shoes. The window is like a stage set for a play of St. Trinians with a vintage school desk bursting with cute shoes and other goods. I have been scouring the search engines for an hour and found nothing… It must be Nottingham’s best kept secret! If you know anything about this store or even have pictures to prove it get in touch.

UPDATE:

The Braderie finds: 1960s dress and sunglasses

During my weekend visit to Nottingham I discovered that what was formally Kitsch has changed and although the layout and aesthetic of the store is much the same as my last visit the shop is now called The Braderie. Some of the stock has been updated but they still sell beautiful and affordable vintage dresses, knitwear and more. Whilst there bob invested in an oh so adorable grey and white 1960s dress and some oversized 1960s sunglasses. I fell in love with a beautiful 1960s grey tweed dress with red detailing but had to tear myself away because alas t’was woolly (my nemesis).

A peplum is a short over-skirt or ruffle attached to a dress or the bottom of a blouse or jacket. Peplums were big news in the 1940s because they created a clean feminine silhouette which appears pinched in at the waist and fuller at the hip.
Peplums made a comeback in the 1980s. I remember a fair few items in my mother’s wardrobe when I was a child which had peplums including one rather stunning bum-hugging white jersey mini-dress with black stripes and a massive flared peplum.

Here’s a lovely example of a peplum from a 1940s McCall’s sewing pattern…

1940s McCall's skirt suit pattern with peplum

Got a question? Ask me and your question may be feaured as a blog post.

Well loved suitcase needs new home

Now ‘Little Floral Suitcase’ is in my shop at least there’s a chance I may learn what will become of him in the future.

If you would like to buy ‘Little Floral Suitcase‘ visit him in the shop.

Image via jilted-lover.com

It goes without saying that for men socks with sandals are NEVER good (some great examples can be seen at Sandal and Soxer) but i believe that for women it is a gray area.  Growing up it was drilled into my head that socks with sandals is for geeks but now the phenomenon has been an on-off thing on catwalks; in April last year Hilary Alexander wrote a piece for the Telegraph about Socks with sandals being on-trend for Summer 2010 (not that I’m much for following trends), In their 2010 show Burberry sent every piece down the Spring catwalk with a sock in a sandal and this season Paul Costelloe and  Dolce & Gabbana are doing it.

Has this former fashion faux-pas become a social norm? There is much debate on the subject online, I want to know what you think…

1. Table decorating with doilies

You could go down the traditional route by decorating your dinner table with doilies in ploace of table mats, laying them wherever a plate or glass might sit. Using them as plate liners can make even the cheapest shop bought cakes look exquisite.

2. Name place holders

A beautiful examples how paper doilies can be made into stunning name place holder are those by The 36th Avenue who give a how-to tutorial on how these beautiful place name holders were created for their Thanks Giving party.

Credit: The 36th Avenue

3. Doily bunting

Using paper doilies and a string or ribbon is a super quick way to make beautiful bunting, ideal if your short for time with a party to plan. Cut your ribbon to the required length then fold all your doilies in half. Place the doilies an equal distance apart with ribbon right in the crease of the fold and secure each to the ribbon with a blob of glue (the non-liquid type like Pritt) or a staple. Done. Now hand and admire!

4. Doily gift wrap

Layer a paper doily with plain coloured paper and glue in place before wrapping around a gift to add an instant touch of crafty prettiness. Also work great in reverse using thick white paper and a coloured doily. Add a bow to finish.

5. Framing doilies as wall art

Yes, really. It might seem odd but loads of people are doing it. This works best with vintage doilies, like these Vintage Picture Paper Doilies which are quite hard to find but well worth the effort hunting down.

6. Doily stentiling

Paper doilies make excellent stencils. They inherently have the ideal attributes for masking; they are intricatly detailed, thin, precut, pretty and peelable.  Prefereably use new doilies, we wouldn’t want to waste a perfectly good vintage doily painting now would we. Craft goddess Maya of Maya*Made has a great Doily coaster tutorial with step by step intrustions to making beautiful doily stencilled goodies like the one below.

Credit: Maya*Made

7. Doily cupcake cakes

You can use a small glass or mug as a mould, gently fold up the sides of a paper doily in pleats to create a cup-like shape. Secure with a ribbon and slip off the glass. Gently place your cupcake in the middle… adorable!

8. Doily origami

Because a doily animal is more beautiful than a regular paper animal.

9. Save them for Christmas

A small paper doily looks a lot like a snowflake.  For very easy budget decorations keep your stash until Christmas, thread each one with a small knotted ribbon and hang them on your Christmas tree.

10. Upcycling with doilies

You can use paper doilies as an ingredient for upcycling furniture and homeware with decoupage. Some PVA, an old high-street lampshade and some doilies and you’ve got a brand new craft-tastic upcycled lampshade suitable for the bedroom or nursery. Decoupage some used family sized sweetie tins and ta-dah!… you’ve dot some fun and pretty new storage.

View the vintage paper doilies in our shop.

Got some more doily-tastic ideas that I missed? Tell us about it.

Red Gingham Dress, £25
Red Bow Lace Back Jumper, £60
Travel Slippers, £20
Wash Bag & Toothbrush Case, £11
Red Polka-Dot Bag, £20
Circular Bow Hat, £35
Rockabilly Love Tattoo Heart Brooch, £8